EU pushes ahead on AI regulation

When it comes to tech regulation, Europe is like the friend who sucks it up and calls the Uber when everyone pretends to stare off into space. Cracking down on AI is no exception. 

What happened: Per WIRED, the European Parliament is close to landing an agreement that would outline its vision for regulating AI. Negotiations have been tense, with ideological divides among lawmakers leading to heated debates on topics ranging from how they’re going to define the thing being regulated to the degree of caution they should exercise.

  • The agreement will likely include a ban on some AI uses, like predictive policing, and transparency requirements for high-risk systems, like those used in border control.
     
  • The ongoing discussions give us a look into the difficult balance lawmakers have to strike between protecting society from AI risks while also trying to reap its rewards.

Why it matters: You better believe other countries are taking notes as they figure out… well first, what AI is, and second, what their response to its fast-growing role in day-to-day life should be. “It’s going to have a spillover effect globally, just as we witnessed with the EU General Data Protection Regulation,” Brandie Nonnecke of UC Berkeley told WIRED. 

  • In Canada, a combination of laws across human rights, tort, intellectual property, and privacy partially regulates the industry, but there are no regulations specifically for AI.

What’s next: We still have a way to go until Europe has AI rules. The European Parliament should come to an agreement this month, then EU member states will have to buy in.—SB